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Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Vatican City, 26 May 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Sala Clementina of the Vatican Apostolic Palace
Pope Francis received in audience the participants in the General
Chapter of the Order of Friars Minor, dedicated this time to two key
aspects of their identity: minority and fraternity.

In his address, the Holy Father
remarked that minority “calls us to be and to feel small before
God, entrusting ourselves entirely to his infinite mercy. The
perspective of mercy is incomprehensible to those who do not
recognise themselves as 'minor': that is, as small, needy and sinners
before God. The more aware we are of this, the closer we are to
salvation; the more convinced we are of being sinners, the more
disposed we are to be saved. … Minority also means coming out of
ourselves, of leaving behind our preconceptions and personal views;
it also means going beyond structures – that are of course useful
if used wisely – and beyond our habits and certainties, to bear
witness to real closeness to the poor, needy and marginalised, with
an authentic attitude of sharing and service”.

Similarly, the dimension of fraternity
is essential for bearing witness to the Gospel. “In the primitive
Church, Christians lived in fraternal community to the extent that …
the people were surprised to see them so united in love, so willing
to give and to forgive each other”, commented the Pope. “Your
religious family is called upon to express this concrete fraternity,
by recovering this mutual trust in interpersonal relations, so that
the world may see and believe, acknowledging that Christ's love heals
wounds and renders us as one”.

In this respect, Francis invited the
Franciscans to be “bringers of mercy, reconciliation and peace”,
in obedience to their charism which has made them an “outbound
congregation” since their origins. “It is said that when the
first friars were asked to show their cloisters, they climbed a hill
and, showing the land around, as far as the eye could see, they
answered, 'This is our cloister'. Dear brothers, continue to go into
this cloister, which is the whole world, driven by Christ's love, as
St. Francis invites you to do … when he says … 'I counsel, warn
and exhort my friars in the Lord Jesus Christ, that when they go
about through the world, they are not to quarrel nor contend in
words, nor are they to judge others, but they are to be meek,
peaceable and modest, meek and humble, speaking uprightly to all, as
is fitting. … Into whatever house they may enter, first let them
say: 'Peace to this house', and … it is lawful to eat any of the
foods which are placed befor them”.

The Pope stressed that St. Francis'
exhortation remains valid. “It is a prophecy of fraternity and
minority for today's world too. How important it is to live a
Christian and religious existence without losing oneself in disputes
and gossip, cultivating a serene dialogue with all, … with modest
means, announcing peace and living in a sober fashion, content with
what is offered to you. This also requires decisive commitment to
transparency, to the ethical and fraternal use of goods, in a style
of sobriety. If, instead, you are attached to worldly goods and
wealth, and place your security there, it will be the Lord Himself
Who will despoil you of this spirit of worldliness in order to
preserve this valuable heritage of minority and poverty to which He
has called you through St. Francis. You will either be freely poor
and minor, or find yourselves denuded”.

“The Holy Spirit is the inspiration
for religious life”, continued Pope Francis. “When consecrated
persons let themselves be enlightened and guided by the Spirit, they
discover in this supernatural vision the secret of their fraternity,
the inspiration for their service to their brothers, the strength of
their prophetic presence in the Church and in the world. The light
and the strength of the Spirit will also help you face the challenges
that lie before you, especially the numerical decrease, ageing and
diminution of new vocations”.

“The people of God love you. Cardinal
Quarracino once said: 'In our cities there are groups or people who
are against the clergy, and when a priest passes by they say certain
things to him – in Argentina they call them “crows”. But I have
never, ever heard these remarks in the presence of a Franciscan
habit. Why? You have inherited authority with the people of God with
your minority, fraternity, meekness, humility, and poverty. Please
preserve this! Do not lose it. The people love you”.

Vatican City, 26 May 2015 (VIS) –
This year marks the fifth centenary of the birth of St. Philip Neri
(Florence, 25 July 1515 – Rome 26 May 1595), known as the “apostle
of Rome” and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory that, as
Pope Francis writes in a letter addressed to the procurator general
Fr. Mario Alberto Aviles, is characterised by “an intense and
joyful spiritual life: prayer, listening and conversation on the Word
of God, preparation to receive the sacraments in a dignified way,
formation for Christian life through the history of the saints and
the Church, and works of charity for the benefit of the poorest”.

The Holy Father, joining with those who
commemorate the figure and the work of this saint, who spent sixty
years of his life in Rome, remarks that thanks to the apostolate of
St. Philip, commitment to saving souls “was restored as a priority
in the Church's activity, and it was newly understood that pastors
must stay with their people to guide them and sustain them in their
faith. Philip was a guide for many people, announcing the Gospel and
dispensing the Sacraments. In particular, he dedicated himself with
great passion to the ministry of Confession, up to the evening of his
last day on earth. His concern was that of constantly following the
spiritual growth of his disciples, accompanying them in the
bitterness of life and opening up to Christian hope. … His
spiritual paternity shines through all his work, characterised by
trust in people, by his rejection of gloomy and sombre tones, by his
spirit of festivity and joy, by his conviction that grace does not
restrain nature but instead heals, strengthens and perfects it”.

The Apostle of Rome also remains as “a
shining model of the permanent mission of the Church in the world.
The perspective of his approach to others, bearing witness to all the
love and mercy of the Lord, can constitute a valid example for
bishops, priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful. From the very
first years of his presence in Rome, he undertook an apostolate of
personal relations and friendship, as the ideal route to opening up
to the encounter with Jesus and the Gospel. … He loved spontaneity,
shunned artifice, chose the most enjoyable methods to educate in
Christian virtues, and at the same time offered a healthy discipline
that implied the exercise of will to welcome Christ in the fabric of
one's life. His profound conviction was that the path to sanctity was
based on the grace of an encounter with the Lord, accessible to any
person … who welcomes him with the wonder of children”.

“The permanent state of mission of
the Church requires that you, the spiritual children of St. Philip
Neri, do not settle for a mediocre life; on the contrary, in the
school of your Founder you are called upon to be men of prayer and
witness to draw people to Christ”, concludes the Pope. “In our
times, especially in the world of the young who were so dear to Fr.
Philip, there is a great need for people who pray and who know how to
teach others to pray”.

Vatican City, 26 May 2015 (VIS) – The
Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops today completed its two-day
meeting to prepare for the 14th Ordinary General Assembly on the
theme “The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and
in the contemporary world”, to be held from 4 to 25 October in the
Vatican. The Council was chaired by the Holy Father, who met with
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri and Bishop Fabio Fabene (respectively
secretary general and under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops) last
week, and whose presence underlined the importance he attributes to
the current Synod path.

Yesterday, 25 May, and this morning,
the Council closely examined the plan for the Instrumentum laboris
resulting from the Relatio Synodi of the Extraordinary Assembly,
integrated with numerous contributions provided by the answers to the
questions included in the Lineamenta sent by the Episcopal
Conferences and other competent entities, as well as the many
contributions received by the Secretariat General from various
ecclesial bodies and individual faithful. An extensive and detailed
study of the text has generated proposals and contributions for its
integration and improvement. The text, thus revised and shared by the
members of the Council, has been entrusted to the Secretariat General
for its final redaction, translation in various languages and
publication, which will take place in a few weeks' time.

Following the examination of the
Instrumentum laboris, proposals from the Secretariat General for
updating the working method for the upcoming Ordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops were presented.